Borrowed once again from toujours_nigel, whose own is here. We did this last year, didn't we? What goes around....

The idea is to put up the first line of each of the last ten stories I have posted, and see if there are any commonalities or patterns. Going back ten takes me right where I left off last year. How tidy.

So here goes:

• "For a long moment I was back in 1966, remembering the effort of writing the make-up essay, the paragraphs that had come so easily and those that had left me sweating with the effort to pry out the words."
  
  "A Different Shade of Gold", 6636 words, written as a pinch hit for luciferinasundaysuit in the Wayback Exchange.
  
  The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton. Technically, the first sentence in my story is the first sentence of the novel. However, as those obviously aren't my words, I've started with the first original bit. The story is futurefic, basically set today, when Ponyboy goes through a box in the attic and comes across the make-up essay he wrote for his English teacher so many years ago.



• "His early years were the foundation of Leonard Snart's life."
  
  "A Little Cold", 1634 words, written for rivulet027 in the Worldbuilding Exchange.
  
  The Flash & Legends of Tomorrow. "A Little Cold" is the first part of "Depths of Cold", an as-yet-unfinished series about Len Snart's childhood/teen years. The next two parts were follow-up treats. At least, that is how they appear on AO3. By rights, they're really chapters of a single story (though they can certainly stand alone); but they were uploaded separately because I'd only got the first part done by the posting deadline, and then ran out of time to finish the whole story. Which is still not finished—but I do mean to (and there will be at least two more parts to come).



• "“Have another éclair,” suggested Mrs. Pollifax hospitably."
  
  "Flight at Christmas", 1145 words, written for philomytha in the Yuletide Exchange.
  
  Mrs. Pollifax series - Dorothy Gilman. Just before Christmas, Carstairs sends Bishop with an unexpected proposal.



• "When Master Nathaniel returned from beyond the Debatable Hills, he was, perversely, the only member of the Senate not to partake of fairy fruit for dessert at the annual banquet."
  
  "The Dapple Flows into the Dawl", 1156 words, written for moon_custafer in the Yuletide Exchange.
  
  Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees. Epilogue. A year later, Master Nathaniel once again holds a springtime party for his friends.



• "The problem with gossip, thought Hugh, is that one doesn’t actually know."
  
  "Quandary", 1087 words, written for deliarium in the Yuletide Exchange.
  
  The Charioteer - Mary Renault. Ralph's friend Hugh worries about school gossip.



• "One of the greatest of all the inventions of man perches and pinches on my nose."
  
  "Joust on Vellum", 1123 words, written for oneiriad in the Yuletide Exchange.
  
  Medieval manuscript illustrations. Written to the prompt, "I wonder which monk first decided to paint a snail in the margins of one of this fine books?"



• "“Oh, damn,” muttered Laurie under his breath."
  
  "Deckle-Edged", 1699 words, written for sunsetmog in Yuletide.
  
  The Charioteer - Mary Renault. Laurie gets the annual invitation to the vicarage for Christmas. Set in the 50s.



• "Captain Cold leaned forward and planted a firm smack on Flash’s lips."
  
  "Rogue Kiss", 4919 words, written as a pinch hit for sandrine_shaw in Multifandom Tropefest.
  
  The Flash (TV series). When Captain Cold startles the hero with a kiss, Iris is not amused. Barry is ... more ambivalent. Sandrine requested ColdWestAllen for Fandom5K; and I almost picked her up as a pinch hit, but someone else got in first. Then she asked for it again....



• "So how’s it going in Crabapple Cove?"
  
  "Dear Dad", 1759 words, written for blueteak in Trick or Treat.
  
  M*A*S*H (TV series). Halloween at the 4077th, described by Hawkeye in a taped letter to his father.



• "It was a wonderful day, sunny and summery, with hardly a cloud in the sky."
  
  "DePiction", 3552 words, written for elennare in the Exchange at Fic Corner.
  
  Swallows and Amazons series - Arthur Ransome. Immediately after the events of The Picts and the Martyrs, Nancy insists that everything must return to normal before her mother gets home.

Well, last year I concluded that most of my first lines are short and snappy. This year, some of them are; but, on the other hand, there are several that are anything but. I note, though, that in "A Different Shade of Gold" I was essaying Ponyboy's own style (as written by S.E. Hinton, whose novel was first person); and in "The Dapple Flows into the Dawl", I was most definitely attempting a pastiche of Lud-in-the-Mist. Both are oft-read favourites.

Taking those out....

Well, I wouldn't say that all the rest are "short and snappy"; but it does seem to be true of a fair few.